Telegraphic transmitter



J n 9, 1943- L. G. HEATHERLY TELEGRAPHIC TRANSMITTER Filed Sept. 13, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 CIHMMAg/I S Patented June 29, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I a 3 2,323,133 I 1 TELEQRAEnIc Lynn G. Heatherly, Whiteville, N. 6. Application September 13. 194i, SerialNo. 410,735

1 Claim. (01.

This invention relates to a telegraphictransmitter which may be employed for sending mes.- sages in. code, either by a telegraph circuit or wireless and of the. character having akey. a

vibrator and electrical connections. 7 The primary object of this invention is to provide a construction-Which will...b.e efficient from every standpoint and whichwillbe durable, compact. and rigid, with the. danger of any of the parts becoming disconnected or disarranged entirely eliminated, and to. remain free of corrosions, rust or the like, regardlessof what kind of damaging conditions it may be subjected to and also will have such weight as to assure against creeping on its support during the use thereof.

With these and other objects in View. as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consistsin certain novel features of construction, combination and ared in accordance withmy invention.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan ,view illustratingth device.

Figure 3. is a side elevation partly in ;section illustrating the. device.

F ur 4 is a transverse sec onal vi wtaksn on the li e o F ur Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view talren on 1 the line 55 of Figure 1.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 5 indicates a flat elongated electric conductive base provided with cushioned insulating feet 5 on its under face and detachably secured thereto by screws or like fasteners. It is preferable to employ three supporting feet, a pair of which is located adjacent one end of the base and the other or single foot is located adjacent the other end of said base.

Pairs of rigid and vertically arranged posts 8 and 9 extend upwardly from the top face of the base. The pair of posts 8 is spaced a limited distance from one end of the base while the pair of posts 9 is located adjacent theother end of the base. I

Insulating strips ID are arranged between the lower ends of the postsand the top face of the base. A rigid electric conductive strip H- is arranged between the top face of the base and the 55 in its lower vibrator [4.

conductive strip l0 positioned under the lower ends of the pair of posts 8 and acts as a bearing for one. end. of a pivot. 12 so that said pivot will have. an eifectiveelectrical connection with the base. This pivot is employed for. supporting lon- .gitudinally of the 'base a key. l3. including a Thesupper ends of the posts 9 are rigidly con.- neoted by a transversemetallic strip l5 detachably secured to. the upper ends of said posts 3 by screws or like fasteners I6. The upper ends of the posts 8 are rigidly connected together by a rigid strip Ht insulated from the upper end of said posts8 by an insulating strip 18.. Screws or like fasteners l9 detachably secure to the posts 8 the strips H and I8.

The posts B and-9 have integral therewith rigid electric conductive. members or. bars 20 paralleling each other. Screws.22 secure on the bars 20 rigid metallic strips 24 which parallel said bars for a limited distance and are further securedto the latter by screws or fasteners 25, the latter being insulated from said metallic strips 24-by insulating collars 28. The strips 24 are insulated throughout their length from the bars 20 by-insulating stripsZ'l. The posts 9 are detachablysecured to the base by stud bolts 28 insulated from said base by insulating sleeves or collars 29; The posts 8 are detachably secured to the base 5 bystud'bolts 30 insulated from said base by insulatingccollars or; sleeves 3|.

' Thebase 5, bars 20, posts'B' and 9 and the means of connecting saidp'arts go to provide an extremely rigid and durable construction.

The key l3-is of sectional formation including the'rigid members 32 and 33. The pivot i2 extends through and is fixed to the member 32 of the keywhile the member 33 has formed on one end a U clamp Ell -Which straddles the memb er'32 and is iournaled on the pivot :2, which construction will permit the member 33 to have p vot m ement. w t e pect. t sm mb 3 'wh n mo ed n d r c i an w m the member th rewit w en m e in a oppo e rection. T e en s of th p ot p n are ointed, the upper end fitting. in a socket oi adjusting post 35. threaded in the member I1 and heldagainst accidental rotation by a lock nut 36 which turns tightly. against the rigid memb r The lower pointedend of the; pivot pin fits in a so ket or adiustin gmst 3i h eade n e b 5 a d is pro ided with a. screw driver K ri end. Said lower end of the adjust,-

ing post is located within a recess 38 provided in the base.

A screw 39 is carried by the member 33 of the key I3 and extends loosely through an opening 45 provided in the member 32 and has threaded thereon a nut 4| engaged by one end of a coil spring 42, the other end of which bears against the member 32. It is understood that the coil spring 42 surrounds the bolt and acts to urge the member 33 against the member 32. The free end of the member 33 is equipped with finger pieces 42 located beyond one end of the base so that they may be gripped between the thumb and forefinger of the hand of an operator. The screw 39 also secures to the member 33 a contact 43 arranged opposite a contact 44 carried by an adjusting screw or post 45 threaded in one of the bars or members 20 and held against accidental movement with relation thereto by a nut 45 threaded tightly against the latter-named bar or member.

Opposed and spaced adjustable stops :41 in the form of screws extend through the bars or members 25, insulating strips 27 and metallic strips 24 and are threaded in the latter so that they may be adjusted toward and from each other. The insulating strips 21 include insulating collars 48 which insulate the stops 41. from the bars 23. Lock nuts 49 are threaded on the stops and against the strips 24 to prevent the stops from moving out of adjustment.

The member 32 of the key I3 extends between the opposing ends of the stops 4! and is normally urged into engagement with the right hand stop by the action of an expansion type coil spring 59, whichhas one endfastened to the member 32 and the opposite end attached to an adjusting screw 5| which extends through one of the members 20, one of the insulating strips 21 and is threaded in one. of themetallic strips 24. The adjusting screw 5|, is equipped with a lock nut 52 whereby it may be firmly held in any of its adjusted positions. The adjusting screw 5| permits the tension of the spring 53 to be varied. 5

The vibrator I4 which includes a rod 52, a pair of weights 53, and astop collar 54 is flexibly secured to the free end-of the member 32 of the key, I3 by a leaf spring 55. The spring 50 acting on the key I3 normally positions the rod 52 of the vibrator, 14 against a stop 56in the form of a disc journaledon an insulated bracket 51 secured on one of the posts 9 by a screw 2|. The weights 53 maybe adjustedlongitudinally of the bar 52 for varying the action-of the vibrator I4 and securedin any of their adjusted positions by set screws .58; v

The collar 54 acts asa stop for the adjustment of the weights on the bar or rod 52 in one direction and also as an attaching medium for a substantially U-shape'd contact spring 59 to the bar of the vibrator. Oneend of the spring 59 is attached to the stop collar 54 and the op posite end carries a'contact 60 coactive with a contact 6| carried by an adjusting screw" 62 threaded in one of the bars or members 20 and is equipped with a lock nut 63. 'When the key is at rest and the vibrator or the-bar 52*thereof is in engagement withthe stop 53, the contacts 50 and 6| are spaced. This also applies to the contacts 43 and 44 and further it will be noted that the member 32 of the key at this time is in engagement with the right hand stop 41. The key is caused to assume this position normally by the action of the spring'50.

When this instrument is connected into a telegraph circuit or associated with a wireless apparatus the contacts 60 and BI due to the action of the vibrator I4 are employed for sending dots while the contacts 44 and 43 are employed for making dashes.

When the key i3 is swung on its pivot to engage with the left hand post and then released causes the vibrator I4 to oscillate or vibrate backward and forward several times for the purpose of engaging and disengaging the contacts 60 and BI to make the dots in the code. It is to be understood that the vibration of the vibrator continues for a considerable length of time and as long as the key is moved to engage the left hand stop 47 the instrument will continue to send the dots in the telegraph line. However, when the finger pieces 42 are released and the key assumes a position engaging the right hand stop under the action of the spring 50 and the contacts 60 and 6| will be spaced a tor I4. Also it will be noted that as soon as the key assumes the latter-named or neutral position, the vibrator bar 52 comes into engagement with the stop 56 and thereby arrests the vibration of the vibrator.

To send the dashes by the instrument, the fin-- ger pieces 52 are moved to the left back and forth by the operator engaging and disengaging the contacts 43 and 44, the member 3.2 of the key remaining in its neutral position by the actionof the spring 55 and the movementpermitted' between the members 32 and 33 by the spring 42.

Th electric lead of the telegraph circuit is indicated by the character It and enters a socket 'II provided in the base and the conductor I2 thereof is electrically secured to the base, as shown at I3, while the conductor I4 of the lead is connected to one of the screws or fasteners 28 and thereby becomes electrically connected to the parallel bars or members 25 so that a circuit may be made and broken through the operation of the key I3, it being noted that the circuit is completed when either groups of contacts are engaging with each other through the manual operation of the key and through the fact that the pivot of the key is electrically connected to the base by the bearing .pin 31. Wheneverit is desired to render the key I3 inoperative or inefiective as to making and breaking of the telegraphic electric circuit,-a switch I5 is provided and is mounted on the base adjacent to the finger pieces 42' of the key so that the operator can easily and conveniently actuate the switch by the hand employed for the actuation of the key. The

switch iselectrically grounded to the base and includes a condenser I5 electrically connected thereto and mounted within a recess I! provided opened then. thekey I3 becomes effective in makingwand breaking of the telegraphic circuit for the purpose of sending the dots and dashes as heretofore explained.

The lead H1 is equipped with an anchoring cord 80 secured to the base 5 by being passed through an opening 8| in the base and suitably tied to itself.

It is to be understood that all of the metallic parts or this instrument are heavily chromium plated and such parts made from brass so as to resist to the maximum, corroding, rusting or the like so as to render the instrument extremely serviceable under the most severe adverse conditions. Also it is to be understood that the contacts employed in the instrument are to be made from virgin silver and the springs of the finest grade of steel, all of which will add to the serviceability and life of the instrument. Furthermore, it will be apparent that an instrument of the construction described in detail and shown in the drawings will be extremely rigid and that all the parts which are separable will be prevented irom accidental displacement. This durable construction besides possessing the qualities and advantages as specified, defines a construction of considerable weight so that when the instrument is placed upon a desk or the like support it will not creep or move about when in use.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention claimed.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

In a telegraphic transmitter, the combination of a two-part key movable as a unit in one direction, part of the key being movable independently in the other direction, a stop to limit the m0vement of the key as a unit, a spring supported vibrator carried by the key whereby the vibrator will be kept from vibrating when the key strikes said stop, a pair of contacts constituting the terminal of an electric circuit, one of said contacts being carried by the vibrator and the other being located in the path of the first, means actuated by the independently movable part of the key for making and breaking the circuit independently of the vibrator, a rigid supporting frame having the key pivotally and adjustably mounted thereto and including rigid spaced parallel side member and pairs of rigid supporting posts detachably connected, rigid means tying the posts in pairs and, detachable therefrom, and a weighted base for the support of said posts and detachably secured thereto.

LYNN G. HEATHERLY. 

